Fizzy drink pledge

SOFT drink companies have pledged not to stock primary schools
with sugar-sweetened drinks or market to children.

New guidelines have been tentatively welcomed by parents'
groups, dietitians and obesity experts, who say they may help
shrink Australians' expanding waistlines.

The Australian Beverages Council unveiled its new guidelines,
which have been approved by most big bottlers of non-alcoholic
carbonated, non-carbonated, juice and water-based drinks.

The measures, to be introduced over two years, propose to stop
advertising such products to primary school children or in TV
programs watched primarily by children. So-called diet drinks would
not be included.

The council's director, Tony Gentile, said that while the
guidelines were designed to help manage obesity, manufacturers did
not accept there was a direct link between their products and the
complex public health issue.

"Childhood obesity is a very multifactorial problem, and
certainly we don't believe that soft drinks are the cause of it,"
Mr Gentile said. "It's mostly to do with over-eating and lack of
exercise."

As part of the policy, manufacturers will also re-label products
to declare kilojoule content on the front and additional
nutritional information on the back.

AAP

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